


Goalie Initiation

by sassy_Tuukka_Time_Tantrum



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Gen, Goalie things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-19 21:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4761275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassy_Tuukka_Time_Tantrum/pseuds/sassy_Tuukka_Time_Tantrum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tuukka Rask decides to introduce goalie newcomer Chad Johnson to life with the Boston Bruins the only way he knows how, by being a trickster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goalie Initiation

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place during the 2013-2014 season. This was kind of a spontaneous story that my friend and I wrote over a Facebook chat. She doesn't have an Ao3 account but deserves some credit.

It was nearly the beginning of the 2013-2014 hockey season. Goaltender Chad Johnson was looking forward to his first full-time NHL season. He didn’t quite mind that the team he would be playing for already had an established starting goalie, he got his foot in the door and that’s all that really mattered to him. Not to mention, he was with a team that had quite an extensive history, The Boston Bruins. The first American team to enter the National Hockey League. The team dubbed “the Big Bad Bruins” known for their physical play, strong defensive core, and the tallest player in the NHL. This season was going to be a good one for him. 

But he had often heard rumors that his current goaltending partner was hard to get along with. And that he was quiet, standoffish and sometimes just straight up rude. Not to mention, the guy was KNOWN for his temper. But Chad hadn’t seen that from Bruins’ number one goaltender, Tuukka Rask at all. Tuukka was probably one of the loudest guys in the dressing room. He was always joking around and giving advice to anyone who needed it. No one on the team ever had anything bad to say about the Finnish netminder. Sure, Tuukka would chirp just about anyone who came within an arm’s reach of him. But nine times out of ten, nothing the Finn said was ever anywhere close to being offensive or rude. And despite apparently being “known” for his temper, Tuukka was one of the calmest guys Chad had ever met. 

In fact, at the moment the two of them were working on some extra drills before practice. And Tuukka, who opted to “just hang out for a bit” was nonchalantly leaning against the back of the net. Every so often he would commentate the drills and it was starting to grate on Chad’s nerves.

"Psst Chad, Chad, He's gonna cross it! He's gonna cross it." Tuukka hushed as forward Gregory Campbell received a pass from one the coaches. 

"Shut up Tuukka,” Chad hissed in return, “I know he’s gonna cross it!”

"Okay fine don't listen to me.” Tuukka muttered, faking a hurt tone, “It's not like I haven't been with the team longer or anything."

Chad just sighed and continued to work on the drills. But a few minutes later  
Tuukka was at it again.

"Psst Chad. What would happen if I "accidentally" pulled the net off its mooring? Would you fall?" Tuukka asked in a hushed voice.

"Seriously Tuukka?"

"Psst Chad.” Tuukka fake whispered again, “What would you do if I hopped over  
the net and tackled you?"

“Can you just let me work on the drills please?” Chad asked.

“I’m sorry I’m bored,” Tuukka whined.

“Do you want to switch with me?” 

“No,” Tuukka responded, “I’m good.” 

A few minutes later Chad felt as the net started to fall forwards, "Jesus Christ Tuukka!" 

"Oops sorry about that,” Tuukka responded laughing a bit, “My skate slipped." 

"Seriously Tuukka come on. I have my nice goalie image to maintain and I don't want it ruined by having to beat the crap out of the Bruins star goalie before the season even starts." Chad exclaimed.

"What? I'm just doing what Timmy did to me during my first year here," Tuukka explained, "You mean, you didn't go through "goalie initiation" on any of the teams you played for?"

"What the hell is goalie initiation?"

"Well it's a ritual the starting goaltenders do to their new backups at the beginning of the season." Tuukka said, “It’s kinda a “welcome to the team” thing among all goalies.” 

"Literally no other team does that, Tuukka," Chad said, “I’ve played for a few different teams an none of them ever did anything like that.” 

"Oh, I guess it's just a Bruins thing then?"

“It must be a Bruins thing,” Chad said. "What did I get myself into with this team?" He thought.

"Hey Chad,” Tuukka said as he tipped the net forward again, “Better hang on because it's gonna be a long season."

"TUUKKA I SWEAR TO GOD!"

Tuukka skated off with his trademark smirk as Chad glared at him from behind his mask.

A few moments later, goalie Bob (The Bruins’ goaltending coach Bob Essensa) skated up to Chad, "Tuukka got you huh? Eh don't worry about him, he's mostly harmless." He said. 

"Mostly harmless? I'm starting to think that maybe I should have signed with a different team." Chad grumbled.

Bob laughed, “Tuukka’s a bit of a trickster,” he said, "Just uh...don't let him have any milk crates."

"What do you mean by milk crates?" Chad asked the goalie coach

"He's uh…lactose-carrying-box intolerant. It won't end well for anyone," Bob said, 

“Look it up on your own time and don’t tell Tuukka I spoke to you about it.” 

\--

Later on when Chad was back in the privacy of his Boston apartment his curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to know why Tuukka wasn’t to be trusted with milk crates. He opened his laptop, went to YouTube and searched “Tuukka Rask Milk crate.” What he saw did not disappoint. 

"Holy. Shit." He exclaimed as he watched the fifty-seven second video a second then third time, "I knew the "Great milk-crate toss of 2009" was made by a goalie in the Bruins organization. But…I didn’t think it was Tuukka!" And Chad finally understood why people kept saying that Tuukka had a temper. 

\--

The next day when it was time for Chad to head to the rink for pregame practice, he made a mental note to keep a little bit of distance between him and Tuukka. The image of the milk crate sailing through the air was still fresh in his mind.  


Johnny Boychuk skated up to Chad during warmups, "So, you saw the video huh?"

"How did you know?"

“You’re behaving just like every other newcomer who’s seen that," Boychuk said, "We show that to everyone, as a warning of sorts. Just be thankful you didn't actually have to live through that incident. I was nearly a casualty."

"You almost got knocked in the head by the stick?" Chad asked.

"No, I was nearly hit with the crate,” Boychuk said, “Tuukka missed me by mere inches. Let me tell you, Finnish can be a scary sounding language."  


While Johnny and Chad were talking about the incident they didn't notice that Tuukka was skating over to them. "Hey guys what are you talking about?" Tuukka asks right behind Chad, causing the netminder to jump. "Goddammit, who showed you the video?" He growled.

"No one," said Chad nervously as Tuukka was standing there glaring, "I…I was curious and all…so I decided to look it up on YouTube. Please don't be angry."

"Fucking. Bob." Tuukka hissed as he put two and two together. "I’ve told him and the rest of the guys time and time again to NOT bring that up to the newbies anymore! Where is he? He and I are gonna have some words.” Tuukka muttered under his breath as he skated away.

“Are you sure you wanna do that Tuukks?” Johnny called, “You do remember what happened the last time right?”

“Shut the fuck up Johnny!” Tuukka screamed back.

"Is he gonna kill me or something?' Chad asked Johnny as they both skate over to the group to begin practice.

"Nah, he'll forget about it in about ten minutes,” Boychuk said, "And we'll still continue to show that to incoming players.”

“But why though?” Chad asked, “He clearly doesn’t like talking about it.”

“Well, you see, Tuukks isn’t really ashamed of that incident at all, he just fakes it to “look professional.”” Boychuk said, “He’s actually quite proud of his milk crate toss. He nearly got suspended for it, but before he even left the Dunk that night he was being shipped up to Boston on an emergency basis. So the AHL let it slide. Trust me, Tuukka has a bit of a temper but deep down he's a really nice guy and he cares about his backups." Johnny smiled and patted Chad on the back, "Don't let him get to you too much."

“Do I want to know what happened the “last time?”” Chad asked.

“Goalie Bob put Tuukka through a brutal, on-ice post-practice goalie workout,” Johnny said, “Poor Tuukks threw up twice, was only allowed off the ice after he nearly passed out, had to lie down for an hour afterwards, and ended up needing to get someone to drive him home. I even think they excused him from practice the day after.” Johnny took notice of the look of horror on Chad’s face, “Eh Tuukka kinda deserved it to be honest. He was being a little shit and had been warned to knock it off several times. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.” 

“Do you have any advice?” Chad asked.

“Just enjoy the ride, it’s gonna be one hell of a season,” Johnny said.


End file.
